MAGA Republicans are calling for Democratic Representative Delia Ramirez to be deported after she said, “I’m a proud Guatemalan before I’m an American.”
Newsweek contacted the White House and a representative for Ramirez for comment on Tuesday via email outside regular working hours.
Why It Matters
President Donald Trump has made cracking down on immigration a central priority, overseeing an unprecedented surge in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrests, mass deportation efforts targeting major cities and a move to end birthright citizenship.
The controversy surrounding Ramirez’s comments cuts to the heart of ongoing tensions in the U.S. over immigration and questions of national identity, which have been intensified by the Trump administration’s “America First” agenda.
What To Know
Ramirez made the comment about being a proud Guatemalan while speaking in Spanish at a summit in Mexico City over the weekend.
A clip of her speaking went viral on social media, sparking backlash from Republicans and conservative commentators, some of whom called for her to be deported or removed from Congress.
Republican Representative Andy Ogles of Tennessee wrote on X: “Denaturalize, deport, and kick her off Homeland Committee. We know where her allegiances lie.”
The official X account for the Department of Homeland Security also weighed in, responding to the video with a quote from former President Theodore Roosevelt about Americans needing allegiance to the United States and calling for the condemnation of any other loyalties.
“There is no room in this country for hyphenated Americanism…Americanism is a matter of the spirit and of the soul. Our allegiance must be purely to the United States. We must unsparingly condemn any man who holds any other allegiance,” the post said.
Ramirez, who has represented Illinois in Congress since 2023, is the daughter of Guatemalan immigrants.
Democrat Rep. Delia Ramirez at a summit in Mexico City this weekend tells the audience while speaking in Spanish: “I’m a proud Guatemalan before I’m an American.” pic.twitter.com/ctJs5QhFLh
— TheBlaze (@theblaze) August 4, 2025
The congresswoman has responded to the criticism, writing on X, “Honoring my Guatemalan ancestry only strengthens my commitment to America.”
Ramirez described the backlash to her comments as attempts to silence her criticisms of the Trump administration, and she questioned why colleagues who celebrate their Irish or Italian heritage were not subject to the same criticism.
“Only those who believe America should not include the children of immigrants or be diverse would attack me—and Americans like me—for honoring my roots,” she said in a statement.
Ramirez has been a vocal critic of the Trump administration’s anti-immigration actions, calling for ICE to be defunded and the resignation of Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem. She has also described the Trump administration as a “fascist government.”
What People Are Saying
Conservative commentator Jesse Kelly wrote on X: “Denaturalize and deport. I’m not even close to kidding.”
Conservative activist Charlie Kirk wrote on X: “Any person who values any other country over America does not belong in Congress. Period.”
Conservative pundit Megyn Kelly wrote on X: “Awesome. Go home.”
Conservative activist Robby Starbuck wrote on X: “She should be immediately stripped of her elected office and it shouldn’t be controversial in the slightest. If you put a foreign nation first, you can’t be trusted to represent the United States. Period.”
What Happens Next
The tensions surrounding immigration and concepts of national identity are likely to continue amid the Trump administration’s hard-line immigration policies.
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